Discerning the Disconcerting
by FrozenArrogance
Summary: It's nearly time to face the last of their troubles, but a certain problem arises. Minato is obsessing over it, and it's promising to break the laws of plausibility. What caused this problem, and when was it encountered? The blue haired summoner won't stop til he's sated. Rated M for language in later chapters. M/M with AkiMina.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the Shin Megami Tensei series, and all credit is to be given to their respective owners, as Persona is a branching series. **

**Author's Note: I hate disclaimers. Forgive any faulty facts, I do not recall the Persona story line and my PSP is somewhere, so I can't play it. **

**Warning: This fanfic is going to include an intimate relationship between two males, so if that steers you away feel free to exit now.**

"It should be up ahead."

Minato nodded in thanks and when he realized Fuuka couldn't see him he thanked her through their link.

"Is anyone else as tired as I am?" Minato stopped short of the convenient teleporter, looking at his friend and elder Akihiko. Mitsuru nodded in response.

"I agree. Our efficiency astounds me, clearing nearly twenty floors in one sitting is both exhausting and relieving." She glanced downwards to their canine companion, and laughed when he barked enthusiastically.

Oddly, Minato felt much more at ease with this team, he didn't know why he felt like they accomplished much more. It might have been because they are much more mature than the others, or if it was simply because the blue haired male never liked talking too much.

Unfortunately, him playing favorites meant that the others were left behind in their training. And speaking of which, Minato couldn't help but remember when he insisted the whole group travel into Tartarus as one, his body switched to auto-pilot. The mere thought sent him into a depressive fit. Pangs in his stomach threatened to cripple him as he remembered the fear in their faces as they were met with an empty floor each time they ascended levels. It was beyond ominous. At one point they decided to inspect every floor for chests and items laying scattered around. They weren't getting their much needed training, but money was also a concern and they decided to make the best of it. He assigned Mitsuru to search for the staircase; Ken, Koromaru, Yukari and Junpei for chests; and he, Aigis, and Akihiko would, yet again, fruitlessly search for any meandering shadows.

They continued with this strategy until they decided to discuss the possible reasons why they met with empty floors since they've started their exploration. Needless to say half the group, including Minato, had no real ideas as to why this would happen; Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Aigis were the only ones coming up with plausible reasons. They had less than a couple minutes to ponder this dilemma before Fuuka interrupted, exasperated. She sensed death. The fear and shock plastered on all of their faces was all too evident, as well as the questions this sudden announcement raised. Why was it so early? Wasn't it usually around five or ten minutes of inactivity that baited the merciless demon spawn? Minato had never barked out his orders faster in his life, no one was to travel alone, and they were all given an ample supply of Revival Beads in case bad came to worse. Everyone went their assigned ways. He and Aigis took a long narrow corridor to the left of their original arrival location; Junpei and Yukari went straight ahead to what seemed to be another large room; the seniors took off in an up rightward direction of the room they spawned in; and Ken and Koromaru took a branching corridor attached to Minato's paternal hallway.

Minato silently cursed himself as he came to a dead end.

"We've found it. It's -" A ghastly scream and panicked barking interrupted. The Reaper! It's with Ken and Koromaru! The cruel hallway he and Aigis took was deceitful and strenuously lengthy, relentless, with turns almost every couple meters. Regardless, he still ran as fast as his human legs would tolerate. When he got there Akihiko and Mitsuru were fending off a relentless Death. Koromaru was dragging an unconscious Ken by the collar, trying to get the poor child away from certain doom. Minato quickly summoned Narcissus to revive the young boy and heal the combatants. With a lucky Bufudyne Mitsuru was able to freeze the fiend while the boxer and Aigis relentlessly unleashed their constant bombardment of attacks successfully knocking the hideous monster to the ground. The silver haired boxer proposed an All Out Attack much to his own chagrin. Minato refused, so Akihiko merely dazed the reaper with a lucky critical strike.

"Now! Let's move!" The crimson haired senior commanded withdrawing her Persona and moving to a teleporter they found. Junpei and Yukari had just arrived, their route having been the most open-ended. Akihiko gathered the nearly fainted, but revived, Ken bridal style and made after Mitsuru. With a flick of his head Minato directed Aigis and the underclassmen behind the seniors. Minato quickly summoned Gabriel to provide them with a much appreciated agility boost (Sukukaja) dismissing her with a nod once she'd done her job. It wasn't before long that, that they heard those chains... those horrid chains once again, and gaining quickly. It seems they had angered the fiend. Great. "Ahead!" Called Mitsuru, rallying the hopes of the others.

Akihiko had managed to come second to last in line, Minato behind him for extra caution.

"Quickly, Iori you're first, we'll send in Ken afterward." Junpei nodded and proceeded onto the transporter. He called their com-link once he was ready to receive Ken. Takeba insisted she take Ken with her instead, Akihiko complied handing over the injured S.E.E.S. member. She made it across and Mitsuru followed.

But those chains had caught up too quickly and Minato panicked. Before he could give the rattling sound the fear they deserved he found himself in extreme pain – and paralyzed. He fell limply to the ground. His silver haired Senpai was about to step into the device when he saw the leader flop over unceremoniously.

"Minato!"

Said male could hardly breathe – the electrical currents flowing within him, nearly killed him. The boxer ran over to him and stepped between the bluenette and the reaper. If he had the luxury, Minato would widen his eyes in shock. Surely he can't think to take the infamous demon by himself? Akihiko merely looked over to Minato's seemingly lifeless body, and smirked at him.

"Caesar!" And behold, there appeared the historical figure, proud, cape billowing behind him, "Take Minato to the teleporter." The historical champion complied.

_But you're nothing without your Persona! No! Akihiko-Senpai!_

Minato could do nothing but look on in terror. Was this the last he'd see of his fearless Senpai? How will the boxer manage without the foundation of his strength, his Persona? The limp male felt himself picked up, he desperately wished for the demon to return to his owner's side. He pleaded with his eyes, desperately. He heard the Reaper fire off his nightmarishly long revolvers. Before he was placed down onto the teleporting ring he caught sight of Akihiko guarding, that bought the boxer some some time. The Persona stayed at his side, shielding him from any unforeseen stray shots from Death. Was this another unspoken command? When the teleporter recognized him as a human and was getting ready to teleport him, he heard his Senpai yell. From behind Caesar he witnessed the Boxer charge at the fiend. What was –

"Freikugel!" His eyes widened. And through his paralysis he was able to gasp sharply.

_No... Impossible._

He found himself being caught by Junpei soon after. Yukari summoned Io to heal the nearly dead duo with a Mediarama. Ken had succumbed to his fatigue prior to Minato's arrival. He was bombarded with questions regarding the boxing practitioner, but was unable to answer any of them, too shocked, bewildered, and speechless. Figuring they wouldn't get an answer to their worries they deemed waiting the next best alternative. What were only nothing more than three minutes felt like three lifetimes as they finally saw a disturbance with the eerily green light coming from their saving grace. Finally, Akihiko stumbled through grasping his bicep and blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He smiled and collapsed, just as the dark hour ended.

"No, the night hour! I can't summon Io!" Yukari panicked, Ken still in her arms.

Immediately Minato and Junpei went for Akihiko, to get themselves out of this forsaken nightmare.

It almost felt like a collapsing building: what was just Tartarus receding. They fled to the school gates where they saw the last of the tower settle. They made for their dorm as quickly as possible to treat their wounded comrade.

_Senpai..._

It was then that Minato was taken from his musings, his entrapment of a mind. He often finds himself lost in his memories, usually working on auto-pilot. That event nearly happened two weeks ago, yet he's as curious as the fleeting moment in which it took place. Ironically he and the group were walking back to their dorm, this time, with the silver haired boxer at full health and with no less determination, too. He didn't notice himself vehemently staring at the back of the senior's head until he came back from his retrospection, Yukari giving him a worried look. Minato blushed and jerked his head away in embarrassment in having been caught staring.

Having arrived at the dorm everyone decided to call it a night, well, everyone but the bluenette. He had always had a fascination with mythology, and since he unlocked his power, he had been nothing short of ecstatic. Now, the demons-slash-gods didn't necessarily look as they did in the ancient readings when Minato summoned them, but he figured somewhere along the lines some dimwit altered the ancient writings to change the appearance to either appear more hideous, therefore more believable, or more attractive, to appeal to the modern expectations of the ignorant masses. And as such he decided to delve into the more obscure legends in Japan. And so he quickly started his desktop computer. He contemplated getting on the Persona 2 game, but concluded that Maya probably wasn't on, it was a school night anyways.

Minato busied himself with reading the lesser known tales of Japan, instantly recognizing some of the names of the mythological gods in the scriptures, having summoned some not too long ago. It wasn't until the small hours of the morning when he stumbled across his most interesting find.

_A mortal defeating God?_

He was appalled at the mere suggestion that a person would have the power to overthrow something as supposedly omnipotent as God. But he pressed onwards regardless. The story seemed to drag on forever, each moment getting more and more ridiculous, until, that is, he uncovered how this.. _mortal_ was able to accomplish such a feat.

_"God yet, not God. But with power unimaginable. He was rumored to have control over any being concocted in the heads of man. Names of gods were under his thumb. With a simple call would they rush to his side. Power immense. Stoic, yet volatile. Willful. _

_ "Perfect strength in an imperfect forme. He knew no limit. Slaying the President of the Netherworld with his physical strength, and dispatching the children of Baal with arcane magicks. _

_ "Demon, yet not, he knew the very knowledge that blessed these creatures. And with stunned breadth do opponents find their attacks mimicked. Almighty was his potential to reform and create his own destiny."_

It came as an upsetting development when he reached the final closing paragraphs of that particular tale. The blue haired summoner wanted to disbelieve such an obvious hoax of a tale, but he was unable. He was especially interested in what seemed to depict this half-God controlling demons and making allies of them. Why... that's what Minato does! And everyone else in S.E.E.S. and even Strega themselves. Minato glanced at the time his computer read.

_3:30, I still have a little time._

And so, curious to what he may find, the summoner resorted to searching the deeper less known parts of the internet.

_A wiki?_

True to his skepticism there is was, a wikia titled 'Wiki.' For his search that was the first thing to pop up. Once clicked there were only odd names of varying origins, some even in his language. He clicked the ones he was familiar with, starting with Masakodos. It seemed to be at the base of he list, he decided he'd start from the bottom. He instantly recognized the names. They seemed to have the same names as the skills his Persona have!

_Could this be –? What is this?_

There were nothing other than the words – names, whatever, so he went back and decided to look at the other names. He recognized more and more of the skill names, some were too bizarre for him to recall. As he kept looking he grew frantically more worried, but maybe these were recordings of other victims of the night hour? One odd name in particular held one word that made his blood run cold, he immediately stopped what ever facial expression, or what ever motion to stare at the screen in raw shock. The one word he had heard not too long ago:

_Freikugel._

**A/N: So this took like 2 hours to complete it is now 3:30, what a coincidence! Well I might have done this in a rush so forgive any mistakes, and if you see any do not mind to send me a pm and I'll check. Reviews, critiques, criticism, all of them, they're all welcome. Thanks for reading!**

**P.S. THIS IS JUST A PROLOUGE ACTUAL CHAPTERS WILL BE LONGER, IF YOU WANT IDK.**


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